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[GreekIslandGirl]

I too think solar, in one form or other (think beyond PV cells), is the most practical source of energy.

Very soon, we will have more efficient plant-like photo-receptors - and, if we can just tweak that darn RuBisCo .... wow, endless fixed Carbon!

[erolz66]

If the application is sending out probes or landing craft to planets further from the sun than earth and beyond then solar is increasingly non viable and exponentially so, as you get further from the sun.

[supporttheunderdog]

If the application is sending out probes or landing craft to planets further from the sun than earth and beyond then solar is increasingly non viable and exponentially so, as you get further from the sun.

I would agree with that, but I think this is about less esoteric uses.

[GreekIslandGirl]

Solar energy for space travel:

This, in combination with more blue sky technology ....

The solar energy available in space is literally billions of times greater than we use today. The lifetime of the sun is an estimated 4-5 billion years, making space solar power a truly long-term energy solution. As Earth receives only one part in 2.3 billion of the Sun's output, space solar power is by far the largest potential energy source available, dwarfing all others combined. Solar energy is routinely used on nearly all spacecraft today.

At the moment, they are only addressing earth's energy needs but ...

In the longer term, with sufficient investments in space infrastructure, space solar power can be built from materials from space. The full environmental benefits of space solar power derive from doing most of the work outside of Earth's biosphere. With materials extraction from the Moon or near-Earth asteroids, and space-based manufacture of components, space solar power would have essentially zero terrestrial environmental impact. Only the energy receivers need be built on Earth.

http://www.nss.org/settlement/ssp/

[erolz66]

Powering the earth from solar arrays in place around the earth is not the same problem as trying to power space craft / probes (or even settlements) at distances from the sun greater than those the earth is at. You could try watching the video link that was the source for this thread and this discussion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BybPPIM ... u.be&t=475

[GreekIslandGirl]

I never said it was the *same* - but that's all they have to do first.

Then, we can use solar to power near-planets/satellites (Mars/moon) travel.We don't have the capacity to travel very far anyway for other reasons not just power sources. Beyond that - and by the time we have achieved all that - there will be other new possibilities.

[erolz66]

We have already sent missions out beyond mars - Voyager, Pioneer, Galileo, Cassini-Huygens, and New Horizons to name just a few. These mission are only possible because they used plutonium-238 based nuclear power supplies. However we have in essence run out of plutonium-238 http://www.wired.com/2013/09/plutonium-238-problem/. If we wish to keep on exploring the outer reaches of our solar system and beyond we need alternate power sources and solar is never going to be that source. Liquid salt thorium reactors might be.

[GreekIslandGirl]

*Never*

[repulsewarrior]

...just an update,



I suggest, (as investors), it is a good time to start learning about this industry.

...where is kurupetos, how is milti; i wonder.

[repulsewarrior]

...the thorium edge,



A Molten Salt Reactor, in Cyprus, sounds so inviting, but they are still a thing of the near future, what with the power plants Cyprus has that are converting to Gaz.

...well timed such research now however, preparing for a step beyond natural gas, could lead to such an investment, an MSR, which along with solar and wind power, is in effect ideal.